A tale of five deaths in Afghanistan
Some deaths in Afghanistan are more newsworthy than others. The killing of five Taliban fighters gets blanket coverage; the killing of five innocent civilians gets almost none.
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By Robin Beste
Stop the War Coalition
13 February 2010
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ON THE EVENING of Friday 12 February, US, British and Canadian troops launched their long touted assault on the town of Marjah, a Taliban stronghold.
Unsurprisingly they met with little resistance, Taliban fighters not being stupid enough to confront 15,000 troops armed with the world’s most devastating weaponry.
"It would appear," said Nato Commander Maj Gen Nick Carter, "That we've caught the insurgents on the hop -- he appears to be completely dislocated."
Relocated, more like.
However, US forces did kill five Taliban fighters -- according to a Nato statement widely reported in the media.
The Marjah offensive may turn out to be what a Taliban spokesman called it: "More propaganda than military necessity." But mass slaughter may still await the people of Marjah, remembering the carnage inflicted on Fallujah in Iraq -- another occasion when the US military decided that a demonstration of its overwhelming firepower was needed to re-assert a faltering occupation.
For now the US military will be happy with its initial propaganda victory, with all the mainstream news sources simply parroting Nato press releases.
But some distance from Marjah, another US attack, also resulting in five deaths, got somewhat less media coverage.
In the province of Paktia, the day before the Marjah offensive, US forces surrounded a compound where a party of 20 villagers were celebrating the birth of a son.
When one man came out into the courtyard to ask why the troops were there, he was gunned down.
Then they killed a second man. The rest of the group were forced out into the yard, made to kneel and had their hands bound behind their back.
Shahyesta Jan Ahadi, a deputy provincial council member for the local government, said news of the operation has inflamed the local community.
"Last night, the Americans conducted an operation in a house and killed five innocent people, including three women. The people are so angry," he said.
As ever in these cases -- now occurring with chilling regularity -- the US military had a different story, saying the raid, carried out in conjunction with Afghan forces, made a "gruesome discovery" -- the bodies of three women who had been bound, gagged and killed.
Ahadi said the operation had not included any Afghan forces: "The government didn't know about this."
"We strongly condemn this," he said, suggesting that locals might organize a demonstration to protest.
It won't the first time there has been a demonstration following mass murder by US forces. And it won’t be the last time that deaths announced by the US military gets headline coverage, when the killing of innocent civilians at the hands of the same military gets almost none.
That said, some major incidents which led to large numbers of civilian casualties in Afghanistan, have been impossible for the media to ignore:
Char Dara, Kunduz Province:
On September 4, 2009 a NATO air strike called in by German forces in the northern province of Kunduz killed at least 30 civilians, according to the Afghan government. President Karzai said the strike was "wrong" and the incident became a major domestic political issue in Germany that led to the German defense minister at the time stepping down. Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel apologized for the strike and the families of the victims are seeking millions of euros in compensation from the German government.
Bala Boluk, Farah Province:
On May 4, 2009 U.S. air strikes on compounds in the villages of Geraani and Ganjabad led to the deaths of an estimated 140 civilians, according to the Afghan government. The U.S. military put the civilian toll at 26 and defended the strikes as an "appropriate means to destroy the enemy threat." The incident sparked outrage among Afghans and President Hamid Karzai and led the head of NATO forces at the time to revise the military directive on avoiding civilian casualties.
Khost And Kunar Provinces:
In one week in mid-April 2009 two air strikes by U.S. forces led to 11 civilian deaths in separate incidents in the eastern provinces of Khost and Kunar. U.S. forces later acknowledged they killed six civilians in Kunar province and five civilians in Khost province.
Shindand, Herat Province:
On August 22, 2008 a raid by U.S. forces in western Herat province led to 90 civilian deaths, according to the Afghan government. The strike was widely condemned by rights groups and caused uproar among Afghans. The U.S. military has disputed the Afghan government account and says up to seven civilians were killed.
Sources for this article: Amir Shah (AP) and Golnar Motevalli (Reuters)
